runners who push themselves behind the limits. in one of the word's most physically demanding endurance races. a race so tough that even the winners feel fortunate just to have finished. the 1995 echo challenge in southern utah. and the team that took the

race. good evening i'm frank somerville and welcome to a second look. men and women seeking a challenge like no other race through wild and rugged back country and not just on foot. bob mackenzie followed a team from right here in the bay area as the adventure began in april of 1995. >> on a remote hilltop in southern utah. 250 people lined up to get their horses. >> each team was issued three horses. three people of the team will ride two will run. they come from all over. navy seals, army rangers, die- hard runners and all ages from 18 to 72. these are people who live to

compete and most have run endurance races before but that doesn't guarantee they can survive the echo summit. up and down mountains and rivers and some of the most desolate and beautiful countries in the world. over the grueling course in temperatures that can range from 30 degrees to 90 degrees. they will wear what they can carry, eat and sleep what they can carry, sleep when they must. on this first morning every team is full of vinegar and bravado. >> the horses cannot keep up with us. >> you're only as best as your slowest team member and there

you are. >> reporter: but even on the opening day there will be casualties. we will be following this team. they have told us they're goal is not to win the team but to finish it. david crockett is a san francisco financial advisor. deborah hafford is a dedicated runner. david ennis the team leader running a veterinarian hospital with his brother. at 46 he's in the age group that most frequently wins endurance races. >> people as they mature, especially into their mid-40s they tend to do a lot better.

they tend to be a lot more patient. they tend to you know conserve their energies better. they are more disciplined about their training. they don't get hurt a lot. they're not overtraining. a lot of it is just experience. i mean you learn how to take care of yourself and i guess i've always thought of it as learn how to suffer. >> then your sandals. how are you doing like with the marli. that wasn't has been as strong. >> reporter: suzy lister at 30 the youngest team member is probably the strongest of the team. barrett runs up and down mountains. they have all taken every minute they can spare from their work and families preparing themselves. they plan to finish this race not necessarily win it.

in this first 26-mile leg each team gets three horses. so two people run. in this group the two women are the strongest runners and spend most of the time on foot. >> david you have that horse you don't have to run at all today. i'll do all the running. >> reporter: three people ride, two run for 26 miles. one of the french teams swiss army knife sets the pace. on a 773-mile race it doesn't mean much to lead the pack on the first day and the french contestants are seasoned enough to know that. >> we just to know our place when we finished this kind of race. you know. >> reporter: our team doner party due comes in at sixth place. >> there was a lot of horses going down. a lot of run away horses we saw

like five without riders. one guy did get kicked in the face. he was dismounting. one rider was just -- trying to help another rider and he was kick in the eye. he will be coming in soon. his face is all bloody but says he's okay. >> like a run in the park. it's pretty easy but it's just going to get a lot harder. >> what drives you to do this you think? >> the challenge, the adventure. nothing deeper than that. >> reporter: david hannefer and ennis wife are the team assistants. they will meet the team and give them water and food. we will also be following this

woman. helen klein. she's the oldest contestant. >> a lot of people would say you're a little old to be doing this. how would you react to that. >> i would say nonsense. nonsense. now i really need to go get water. i really do. >> reporter: water and mrs. klein is ready to go. after 20 minutes left. the donner party heads out for the next stage. it begins with a decent. already one of the lead teams hewlett packard is heading down to that amazing abyss. a long drop down a canyon wall and an amazing traverse against a gaping caseth. as they test their skills and resilience.

welcome back. people took a risk by entering the echo summit. >> reporter: after 48 hours of hiking, climbing, swimming and running, two days that included only a few hours of sleep, the team called big sky climbs out of a river and heads for a desert. >> hello, what number are we? >> you are eight. >> right on. >> are you tired at all? >> sometimes. but not tired enough to stop that's for sure. >> reporter: 50 teams from all over the u.s. and 10 foreign countries have joined the race. already four teams have opted out. the bay area team we're following donner party are doing well. >> we woke up in the morning, our socks and shoes were frozen but our socks we lifted them up and they were frozen stiff.

>> that's a lot of weight. what do you suppose that is? 40pounds. >> i think it's probably more than that. >> wow. >> 40 is my max. this is over my max. >> you've been carrying that all day. >> i've off loaded a rope and water. robert took a rope from me. >> reporter: after a forced swim up river followed by a cold night. this young woman suffers a case of hypothermia. her team gets her into dry clothes and try to keep her warm. a medical team will take her out. her team can go on without her but they are disqualified from winning the race. of course she feels she has let them down. all of the athletes are competent but were they really preparing for what they were facing. each team practicing skills on the resort of a hotel.

though some were proficient climbers, some clearly were not. >> the center is not on the down rope. >> these people should be prepared for this race, many of them aren't. >> they're taking their chances out there. >> yeah yeah. >> this is the kind of climbing the teams really face in the echo challenge. a decent down a sheer rock. it calls for polished mountaineering skills. but he is far from a professional climber like many others here he is pressing his luck. pushing to the edge of his mountaineering skills. in his left he controls a sort of break called a dumar. if he lost consciousness and released it it would hold him. as the climber releases the dumar without meaning too you

can't be released without taking weight off of it. not easy to do when that weight is your own. this is called the travelian traverse. going sways while climbing in the air. not everyone's idea of fun. >> reporter: this woman dropped from a rope on the canyon decent and broke her foot. determine not to let her team down she told no one about her injury. she walked on the broken foot almost 30 miles before she collapsed. >> i had a goal. i mean i was desperate. i was going to make this no matter what. and when i heard it snap or when it first you know when i stepped on something and i heard it go and the pain on my leg i thought the race is over for me. and i didn't tell anybody. i just really you know put a year of my life into this and i wanted to finish it. >> isaac wilson who helped design the race says some teams don't know how to conserve their water and are headed for

dehydration. >> they'll be finished yeah. there's no way they can continue. yeah. they'll be dropping like flies if they don't find the water point they're out. >> any contestant who isn't pretty beat up by now must be made out of space age materials. nevertheless these people have a lot still to come. including a resting run down a wild river, a climb up a sheer cliff race and a canoe race after that. and to hear them say it, this is a great vacation. >> still to come, pushing on ward. >> you got to love this.

mid-way through the echo summit, the teams have crossed hundreds of miles and battled exhaustion as they try to finish the race. after days on the move, competitives encountered

stretchous white water rafting as the -- treacherous white water rafting as the race continued. >> reporter: 30 miles up the river bed. until you find out that the river bed has a river in it a very deep very cold river. and for long stretches the canyon walls are so close together and so steep the only way forward is through the 40- degree water and up to the waist. sometimes right up to the neck. >> >> it's going to be in the middle tonight right? it's cold. >> just another day in the echo challenge. a 370 endurance race in utah. and this race includes a 100- foot drop off a cliff. and a traverse that would freeze the blood of anyone

sensible enough to keep her or his feet on solid ground. option -- of course when you do this you must take your 40- pound pack with you. >> you've got to love this. >> reporter: if you don't care for mountain climbing or river dunking how about a nice brisk 70-mile hike across a stoney terrain with only the water you can carry. we found the team we're following, donner county and very eerie chipper. >> and we were over our heads. but the mud, we would sink down in the mud.

the thickest mud you have ever seen. >> we're making two to three- miles-an-hour. we'll make it there. >> reporter: by the end of the fourth day after walking 40 more mimes, bicycling another 40 miles and walking some more. our bay area team is showing the wear and tear. by this time their feet are shredded. calluses have broke open and become trenches in the skin. they're still not complaining but it shows in their face. but good news, they will be able to get off their feet and enjoy a ride down the river.

>> hey donner county. >> and the team is already eight hours ahead. bare in mind that the captain has been running, biking and hiking. it's easy to get dumped out of a raft. not so easy to get back in when you're already exhausted. well, they won't even admit it. >> it's absolutely breathtaking. and when they finish the rafting adventure they can rest right? sure, after they climb out of the canyon up a sheer rock face. >> when we come back on a second look. the first teams cross the finish line and how the team from the bay area faired in the race.

ñw? ♪ ♪ ♪

welcome back. the long physically demanding race finally came to an end after 10 days in the wilderness

in southern utah. a competition so tough that nearly half the teams had dropped out before it's over. bob mackenzie has the story as the teams crossed the finish line in may of 1995. >> after a week of running, hiking, climbing, bicycling, horse back riding and swimming, the echo challenge teams that were still standing got to sit for a while. if you call this sitting. 26 of the original 50 teams had already bit the dust before they even reached this leg of the echo challenge. a 70-mile endurance race in southern utah. some french teams train full time and are supported by corporate sponsors.

some french teams took the lead early and stayed there. one young man dislocated his shoulder and simply popped it back in again. >> he take off his shoulder. the shoulder. >> eventually the rafts has reached the mighty colorado river and they could enjoy the scenery. but not for long. at the end of the ride was a climb. 1,200feet straight up the side of a canyon wall. >> a principal of climbing is to always have two points of support so that if one gives way there's another point to prevent a fall. the climber hangs ultimately from one point then another.

this formittable rock was a maker or breaker separating the expert climber to the novice. the climb could take one hour or four hours depending on the experience. climbers always say never look bad. not a bad idea. but sometimes it doesn't pay to look up either. by the way if this looks tough to you. heck a 72-year-old woman can do it. one of those little blue spots is helen klein of cordova heading briskly toward the top. when they reach the top do they rest? are you kidding? this is a race. >> all right, hard core, hard core. >> let's go, right on. >> 12 more miles across country, and at last the final

stretch a 50-mile canoe trip in colorado. even this is more a paddle in the park. if they stop paddling they go back ward. it's easy to get lost in the river. there are forks and arms and tributaries and 100 turns. but contestants can't throw their maps away yet. but there are stretches where they can relax a bit. contemplate where they have been and what they've been through. at long last, on midnight on the ninth day team hewlett packard four frenchman and one french woman lead the echo challenge. >> you won. you won. you won. yes. >> team nike from southern california passes three teams in the water to come in second.

>> in the friendly spirit of the event three teams come in together to tie for third place. they include members from france, britain and new zealand. >> no five people in the world that come out of this together. our team is that our team finished in 14th place. they had promised in the beginning they would finish. not bad considering that half of the teams didn't. and helen klein came in her

team in 16th place. for all the teams that managed to finish it and even for all the people who fell by the waist side this will be an adventure they will never forget. >> we spoke to several members of that bay area team this past week. deborah henford was 43 years old. since then she's gone on to do 57 day race through the sahara and another race through the amazon. she's also climbed to the top of argentina's highest peak. robert barrett went back to idaho and never again ran in an echo challenge race. as for helen klein the 72-year- old she was unducted into the

u.s.a. track hall of fame. at 85 she was still breaking records with her marathon running. a remarkable group. i'm frank somerville, see you next week. blood pressure introducing the one-and-only volkswagen golf sportwagen. the sportier utility vehicle.

okay, hold still, honey. i'm afraid you're going to hit me again. don't worry. i'm just putting this time. i'm not the strongest golfer and i think it's holding me back in business. too bad deals aren't closed in a trampoline park. i'd just lazy-back into a rudolph into a quadriffus right up the corporate ladder. hey, dad, you coming to my play tonight? "your" play? you only painted the sets. yeah, and michelangelo "only" painted the sixteenth chapel. maybe don't keep your face so close to the paint cans. sorry, buddy i'm getting a golf lesson and then i'm playing with a client, but i'll try to make your next performance. (doorbell rings, thud) phil! little busy. oh, you always do this. you cram stuff in the freezer without thinking about it. i opened the door, and a frozen turkey almost fell on my foot. i keep pulling it to the left. are we sure the house is level? are you not the least bit sorry? i could have broken a toe. honey, i'm sorry for dozens of things every day